Honeydukes Girl and Weasley Boys
by writingchild
Summary: Olivia Flume is returning to Hogwarts for her fifth year at school. Sirius Black is on the loose, dementors are roaming the Wizarding World and she can't help but feel like something else big is wrong. Good thing the Weasley twins are around. Set during POA, will likely continue to DH. T for language and adult situations.
1. Chapter 1

_**Anything you recognise belongs to JKR.**_

* * *

 _'Liv, please. Just stay here?'_

 _'Fred, I'm going to fight, you can't stop me. I'm 20 years old.'_

 _'I've got a bad feeling about it.'_

 _'We're about to go to war against You-Know-Who, what do you expect?' she joked. Fred's face didn't change. 'Look. I'm going to be right next to you the whole time! And if something happens... Well, we'll be together.'_

* * *

Olivia Flume yawned, intensely bored. The train ride to Hogwarts was always the same. She had bid farewell to her parents at Honeydukes rather than letting them walk her to the train station that sat at the foot of the village. Of course, although there was no denying that living in Hogsmeade had it's advantages, she couldn't help but feel jealous of those who got to ride from platform 9 and three quarters with the rest of the school.

Apart from her, there were around ten other students who lived in Hogsmeade, none of whom she knew. The majority were not in her house, and the single student who was in Gryffindor was a nervous looking second year who refused to look anyone in the eye. This was not the dramatic start to her fifth year she had dreamed of when she was in second year. By now, she should have had grand adventures planned of romance and excitement. She should not, in fact have been watching a Hufflepuff girl two seats away from her pick her nose. Olivia's mind wandered to the Hogwarts express, each carriage packed full with students. Katie Bell was probably discussing the latest break up tale with Angelina and Alicia, which Olivia would inevitably have to listen to at some point. It wasn't that Katie had had lots of boyfriends, it was that the boys that she would date shared a single trait - nastiness.

Olivia knew that Katie, with her soft skin, curly hair and nervous smile was always going to be someone who attracted assholes. Hot, asshole teenage boys like cute girls who have the girl-next-door quality to them. It allows them to do whatever they want while relying on the girl's naivety to stop them getting dumped, she thought. It wasn't that Katie wasn't smart, because she was. Olivia frequently copied almost everything she did in her classes, which meant that she didn't really learn much until her best friend would inevitably force her to study for a test. In return, Olivia hexed Katie's boyfriends when they inevitably made her cry. They had a good system. It worked.

However, Olivia was never alone in hexing Katie's boyfriends. She always had help. Olivia pulled out a grubby letter from her skirt pocket and the corners of her mouth lifted.

 _'Wake up, Liv, Errol's here!_

 **So, as arranged, bring as much overstock from the shop as possible. The sweets on the train are so overpriced.** _If I am ever rude to you, please remind me that you live in Honeydukes. I don't usually forget but it does sometimes slip my mind.'_

The two different styles of handwriting were one of the few ways you could differentiate between Fred and George Weasley.

 **'What Fred means is 'I am so glad to have you as a friend. Never will I base our friendship solely on my stomach. Or any other part of my body.'** _Piss off, George._

 **See you**

 _Fred_

 ** _George.'_**

She tucked the letter back into her pocket, already feeling less sorry for herself. Hogwarts was never dull, particularly not when her friends were Fred and George Weasley. Two years ago, when second year Katie first had her heart broken by a Slytherin boy ('I told you they were all rats!'), Olivia had vowed revenge. However, she had never been particularly good at finding ways to get back at someone without making it extremely obvious it was her. After receiving a detention for attempting to duel the Slytherin, she found herself polishing trophies with the two Weasleys. It didn't take long before she had explained the situation to them and they had agreed to help. Now, two years and several of Katie's boyfriends later, she was inseparable from the pair.

With a screech, the train rapidly lost speed, and the blonde was wrenched out of her thoughts by the arrival at Hogwarts. She followed the other students off of the train, wondering how long it would be until the Hogwarts express arrived at the platform. Olivia didn't have to wait long however before the scarlet steam engine pulled up at the platform and students began to spill out of it. Hagrid, the groundskeeper flashed her a smile as he passed, directing first years to the boats. 'Firs' years, this way! Firs' years!' Olivia craned her neck to see past the flow of students, and her eyes caught two redheads bobbing along in the students. Their two faces split into a grin, and Fred and George Weasley raced their way towards her, shoving past a group of disgruntled fifth year girls.

'Liv!' yelled George, lifting up the far shorter girl into a bear hug. Fred arrived seconds later, scrubbing her head madly with his fist. 'Ow, ow, get off, get off!' Olivia laughed, pushing the stocky Fred away from her. 'Right, carriage, now, I've not seen you both in about a hundred years.'

'Guess we're just too lazy to come see you,' added George, smiling good-naturedly. Olivia climbed into the carriages awaiting them, catching her tights on the side and immediately causing a ladder to leap up her shin. 'Oh, for god's sake.' She sat down with a thump and began investigating the damage to her leg as the twins clambered into the carriage with her. George took out his wand, and turned to face his twin. 'What do we think, close enough to Hogwarts to not risk a letter from the ministry and therefore a howler from Mum?'

'Most definitely,' answered Fred, and Olivia concurred.

'Reparo,' said George, his wand pointed at Olivia's leg. The ladder quickly rethreaded itself and Olivia beamed. 'Thanks.'

'Don't mention it,' George answered, tucking his wand into his sleeve. The carriage juddered as it began to move forward and the three quickly began to catch up on the holidays.

'So Ginny is basically fine now?' asked Olivia.

'Completely,' said Fred, while George nodded. 'Mum's been fawning over her all summer, though to be honest I don't know if it's done more harm than good. My approach was to carry on as normal but Percy seemed to think she's too delicate to handle anything, which is bullshit.'

'Ginny can be terrifying sometimes, I'm surprised You-Know-Who didn't think it over before all the diary stuff,' pondered George.

'But it's better she's with us than someone like Percy who's that straight laced. I can hardly believe I'm related to him,' said Fred musingly. 'Do you remember when we tried to make Mum take that test to prove he was our brother, George?'

'You asked your Mum to check that she hadn't got someone else's son?' Olivia spluttered.

'Looking back, it was probably a poor move,' said George. He stretched out his legs in the carriage, gazing up at Hogwarts. 'It feels good to be back.' The three looked up at the silhouette of the castle, clouds darkening around it, heavy with rain. It wasn't a particularly horrible night, thought Olivia, despite the threat of rain which would undoubtably unnerve the first years who were travelling across on the boats. She copied George, stretching out over the carriages seats. Yes, it was good to be back. Whilst Olivia was gazing across at the scenery, Fred and George exchanged a look. No dementors had searched her train, and neither of them wanted to broach the subject.

As the carriages drew to a halt, Fred looked around, scanning the carriages. 'Can you see Ron and Ginny?' he muttered to George. The latter quickly glanced up and down the carriages and shook his head. 'What?' asked Olivia, as she jumped out, splashing mud over her shoes. 'Nothing!' said the twins synchronised in words and innocence. Olivia spun around and stared at them. 'You're using your voice you use for McGonnagal. Are you going to tell me what's wrong?'

Fred gave a sideways glance to his brother, who gave a slight twitch of his head.

'Well…'

'You know about Azkaban, right?' asked Fred cautiously.

'I live in a village, not with Muggles.'

'Sorry. Well, there was a dementor on the train.'

'What?' said Olivia sharply. 'What for?' The twins said nothing, starting to walk along the path to Hogwarts with the rest of the students. 'Come on, you can't leave me in the dark like this! Katie will tell me anyway, all you're doing is delaying it!'

'Okay, they think that Sirius Black the serial killer is on the loose and might go to Hogwarts and we didn't want to say anything because not only is that pretty damn scary but dementors are too. Plus they make my skin crawl,' said George with a shudder. Olivia was following them now, walking slowly, ignoring the hungry and impatient students elbowing her out of the way. 'Liv? You okay?'

'Yeah,' she said, shaking her head. Fred put his arm around her shoulders and gave her a squeeze. 'Look, I know it's creepy but I mean, what's the chances that Sirius Black is going to come here. Even smaller are the chances that he's going to think a tiny blonde girl is going to be a worthwhile enemy. No offence, but I imagine you're not exactly high on his hit list.'

'Who is though, do you reckon?' said George. 'Dumbledore?'

'Dumbledore is one of the best wizards in the world, even Black wouldn't be stupid enough to duel him,' said Fred.

'He is insane though,' said Olivia quietly.

As the three sat down before the feast, Olivia noticed George twisting a thread on his robes, a slightly determined look on his face. She raised her eyebrow at him, and he stared at her defiantly. 'If your eyebrow goes up any further it'll be dancing around the great hall.'

'Why are you worried?' she asked. Fred's head whipped around from chatting to Angelina.

'George? Worried?' He shook his head sadly. 'You're ruining our reputation, twin.'

'I'm not worried!' George said slightly too loudly. Olivia and Fred gave him a look. 'Okay. I am a bit. I just… Ginny will turn up, won't she?'

'Course she will,' Fred said nonchalantly, pointing his wand at a goblet before peering into it. Whatever he had been hoping might happen however had failed, and he knocked it away with a grunt. 'It's Gin, George. It's a miracle Ron's sitting at the table, it's practically a cert that Ginny will,' he added.

Olivia, however was looking up and down Gryffindor table. 'Has anyone seen Harry and Hermione though? Isn't it weird that Ron's just sitting on his own?'

'Aw, worried about ickle Ron?' said George.

'Yeah, if you want to go sit with him we won't mind, honest,' said Fred, smirking

'Oh shut up, I'm better than you two at looking out for him,' she said huffily. Olivia turned towards the sorting hat on it's stool, suddenly realising how empty her stomach felt, and hoped it would get on with it soon.

As the twins and Olivia trudged up the stairs to the common room, their stomachs swelling from the feast, they were joined by Lee Jordan who looked unusually grim. 'Guys, guys, you're never going to believe it,' he said, throwing his arms around the twins' shoulders. 'What?' asked Olivia, though with little interest. Usually it was something Quidditch related that Lee would tell the twins about, and although she liked Quidditch, she was not only a terrible flier but had little interest in long conversations about tactics and flying formations. 'So a dementor went into Harry Potter's carriage today.'

'It did?' said the twins immediately, their heads snapping up.

'Yeah. Apparently he had some sort of seizure. Everyone's been talking about it.'

'Merlin,' said Olivia, her full stomach now making her feel queasy. 'I hope I never see one.'

'You won't,' said Fred instantly. 'Dumbledore won't let them in the castle, right Lee?'

'No way. He's a bit daft but the way he was talking about them in his speech… I just can't see him ever letting them in.' The happy mood that the feast had given them was fast fading and by the time they reached the common room, all that Olivia wanted to do was disappear to her room and go to bed.

As she opened the door, she heard sniffling coming from behind a curtain on a four poster bed. It was only nine o'clock but she felt drained, and Katie's fake snores were a clear signal that she didn't want to talk. Olivia collapsed onto her own bed and stared at the ceiling. Hogwarts was safe, it was protected. So why did it feel like there was something pressing on the castle walls outside, some sense of foreboding that Olivia couldn't ignore?

* * *

 _ **A/N Hi! Hope you enjoyed. Please review as I am fairly out of practise and constructive criticism is always appreciated...**_


	2. Chapter 2

**_A/N Anything you recognise belongs to JKR._**

 ** _Thank you to SlytherinTiger and dhamann7878 for following my story! You rule._**

* * *

Sunshine pushed its way through the thick, scarlet curtains of the girls dorm. The room had a soft, red glow and the only sounds came from the deep breathing of the four residents of the dorm. One of its residents however, was not asleep. Katie Bell was standing in the bathroom, staring at herself in the mirror. Her eyes were puffy from the bad sleep and her tears from the night before, and as she counted her breaths ('in for four, hold for two, out for six') she tried to stop herself from crying again. An alarm buzzed in the next room and someone groaned, hitting it to stop the noise. Katie approached the door and peeked around it, trying to avoid being spotted.

However, Katie had the misfortune of making direct eye contact with Olivia, who was the one who had shut off the alarm. Instantly, Katie slammed the door shut and Olivia wrenched herself out of bed and rushed to the door.

'Katie?' Olivia knocked on the door. 'Katie?'

'Leave me alone.'

'No.' The door to the bathroom edged open, and a red, swollen face appeared in the gap.

'I look disgusting.' Olivia pulled open the door.

'No you don't. You feel shitty and you are taking it out on yourself when it's Davies fault and not yours.' At the mention of Rodger Davies, Katie exploded into fresh tears and threw herself at Olivia. 'He's such an asshole! I was on the train and I actually felt okay after his stupid break up letter he sent last week and then we bumped into each other and he just sneered at me and walked off with some girl. It's been a week and he's already going after other people - should I be going after other people?'

'Only if you want to.'

'I don't want to!'

'Then come on, lovely.' Olivia pulled her into the bathroom and turned on the shower. 'Have a shower, and I'll wait and we'll go down to breakfast together. Okay?' Katie sniffed and then smiled.

'I'm sorry Liv. I feel like such a twat.'

'Well you aren't.' She span Katie round to face the mirror. 'Look! Gorgeous Katie Bell, Gryffindor star Chaser and top of her classes.' Olivia pretended to do a double take and Katie laughed. 'She's… Crying? Ladies and gentlemen, we have an issue on our hands, and it must. Be. Resolved.' Katie shoved Olivia, still laughing, and gave her a quick hug.

'Okay, I won't be long in here, I just need to have a shower and not feel totally gross. Be out in fifteen minutes?'

'No problemo captain,' her friend answered and did a mock salute. Olivia walked out of the bathroom and smiled at a waking Alicia. 'You alright?'

'Knackered.' She yawned and slipped her feet into fluffy slippers. 'Who's in the bathroom?'

'Katie. She'll be like fifteen minutes.' Alicia rolled her eyes and pulled her auburn hair out of the plait she had slept with. She glanced across to Angelina, who was still sleeping soundly.

'Should we wake her?' asked Alicia cautiously. Olivia snorted.

'I'd rather you than me,' she answered, throwing her quilt over the bed and beginning to change into her uniform.

'No need,' came the muffled voice of Angelina, who groaned and stretched her neck as she awoke. 'Alicia, you know much better than to wake me up.'

'Nope, everyone else knows better. I however, have best friend privileges,' she said chirpily and sat herself on Angelina's bed despite her protests. Despite Olivia having shared a dorm with the two girls for the last five years, the three hadn't ever truly bonded. Katie however was a year younger, and Olivia had felt a need to act the older sister (even if that didn't always mean the _responsible_ older sister.)

Olivia spotted the twins a mile away in the great hall, where Fred was using pieces of toast to build a card tower and George was attempting to knock it down. She threw herself down in the seat next to George and smiled. 'Good morning!'

'And good morning to you. How you doing Katie?' asked George, as Katie tried to slip into the seat next to Olivia unnoticed.

'I'm fine,' she replied shortly. Fred threw her a piece of toast from his tower which she caught deftly, not even looking up from her plate.

'Good to know you can still catch, Oliver will be pleased,' said Fred.

'When actually is the first Quidditch match?' enquired Olivia as she buttered her own toast.

'Some time in October. I can't wait to flatten Slytherin, Harry Potter might be a liability to himself but he is a fantastic seeker,' admitted George. He took out a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to Olivia. 'Sorry Katie, I didn't get yours but look - fifth year schedules!' Olivia quickly unfolded it and scanned the table.

'Ugh, we still don't get any study periods shared with the fourth years!'

'Really?' asked Katie, peering over her shoulder. 'What a pain in the ass.'

'But look!' said Fred, grinning. He pointed to a column on the table. 'This morning we've got Charms with the Hufflepuffs, then Divination with Slytherin and frees all afternoon! We have a ridiculous amount of time to do absolutely nothing. Up for a trip to the kitchens, Liv?'

'Oh Merlin, yes. There's never a bad time to see the house elves, they're absolute sweethearts.'

'You have an obsession with house elves,' said Fred.

'It's not an obsession!' answered Olivia in a shrill voice. The twins looked at her, wearing identical smirks. 'Shut it, Weasleys.'

'But we didn't say-'

'Your faces did!'

'Do you three ever shut up? mumbled Katie, rolling her eyes.

'Apologies, Bell. When there's someone to be wound up as easily as Liv, it's only natural one should take advantage,' said Fred, who winked at Olivia. Suddenly,it felt as if Olivia's head was filled with cotton wool, and she couldn't think of anything to say. Fred was staring at her, confused, and George had turned round to wave his hands in her face.

'Earth to Liv? You in there?' She shook her head and stood up abruptly, nearly knocking over a jug of pumpkin juice in the process. Katie was looking from Fred to George to Olivia, as if she was watching a muggle tennis match. 'See you in Charms' she said very quickly, and then rushed from the table, leaving her friends be-hind. As she ran from the great hall, she concentrated for the first time in her life on the lesson she was about to go to. Olivia thought of anything, of messing with Rodger Davies, of Honeydukes, of Snape's greasy hair. In fact, she put her mind to anything that wasn't what she had just felt when Fred had winked at her. After all, he was just being Fred. Her best friend Fred. Definitely nothing-more-than-that Fred.

Oh, shit.

Professor Flitwick was never late. It was one of the things he prided himself on, particularly because it meant that he could be prepared for when the first student arrived in his class. So, it was a first for him in over fifteen years to be beaten to his own lesson by a student. Olivia Flume was sitting in the front bench, her books out and quill poised, looking decidedly pale. Flitwick gave her a look of great surprise, before saying 'Miss Flume, have we had a change of heart as to how we regard lessons? May I say, just in time for your OWLs, perhaps?'  
'Er. Yes. I mean, better late than never?' Flitwick smiled and made his way to the tall pile of books on which he stood. He had precisely seventeen minutes before the lesson started, and was going to use them wisely. Looking at the list of names in front of him, he formed a pattern in his head and tapped the piece of paper with his wand. Names flew about the paper until they were in pairs, forming a neat line. He noticed that despite his thoughts, the names Fred and George Weasley remained stuck together. Internally, Flitwick wondered if they ever separated, before tapping the paper rather sternly and forcing the names to spread apart.

Olivia watched the class fill up, desk by desk. She didn't know many of the Hufflepuffs except by face, so she prayed that another Gryffindor would turn up and sit next to her. Then, she heard the loud laughter of the twins and what was probably Lee Jordan come from the doorway, and she forced herself not to turn round. However, despite her prayers, Lee fell into the seat next to her, and two taps on either shoulder confirmed that Fred and George were directly behind her. However, Flitwick was smiling to himself as he teetered about on top of the books, levitating in the air. 'Now, don't get too comfortable everyone! This is your OWL year, and it's about time some of you started taking lessons seriously.' His eyes stopped for a moment on the twins. 'So, in order to make things a little easier for both you and I - I have made a seating plan!' Loud groans echoed around the airy room, with shouts of 'Sir, that's not fair!'  
'Hush! Now, you'll find that your names will appear on a desk. Do not attempt to move them, I have a master copy here myself.' As Olivia looked down at her seat, her name flashed in silver letters infront of her. Evidently, she didn't need to move. Lee however let out an exasperated sigh, and went to find another seat. 'Fantastic, I'll be staying here then,' came Fred's voice from behind her. George grumbled as he moved his things to the left, to be met with a nervous looking Hufflepuff girl with long, dishwater blonde hair. 'Right, guess I'm with you.' Olivia looked to her right and squinted at the letters written on the desk. 'Di-gg-ory.'

'That's me,' came a low voice. Olivia looked up, and was met with a tall, rather muscular boy who looked older than what he probably was. He sat himself down next to Olivia, and gave her a fairly genuine smile. 'I'm Cedric.' He held out his hand, and Olivia took it.

'I'm Olivia Flume. Most people just call me Liv, though.' He shook her hand, and a slight look of recognition formed on his face.

'I know you, you hang around with the Weasley twins!'

'Yeah, I do-'

'She does. Right here!' Fred had put his hand on her shoulder and was giving Diggory a large, and very fake smile. Diggory gave him a rather confused look, and smiled weakly. 'Good to know, mate.' Olivia cursed the Weasley house pride in her head, turning to face Flitwick and ignore the tension that was growing by the minute. 'Today, we will be attempting a basic silencing charm! They are of utmost importance, and there is an extremely high chance they will appear in your exam. Now, take it in turns with your partner to use the wand in this motion' - Flitwick made a slight poke with his wand - 'and utter the incantation 'Silencio! Do not aim at anything but the ravens and or toads in front of you. It will cause both me and Miss Pomfrey a lot of grievance.' The tiny teacher pointed his wand at a box and made it levitate, decanting animals on each desk.  
'Shall I go first?' asked Diggory.

'Uh, sure, go ahead,' replied Olivia. She had a strong suspicion that he would be far better than her.

'Silencio!' he said, wand pointed at the toad. It admittedly wasn't silent, but a good deal quieter than before.

'Nice one,' said Olivia, smiling.

'It's not that hard, see? My Dad taught me how to do it over the summer.' There was no trace of arrogance in his voice, but rather a slight tinge of embarrassment, as if he wished he had been worse.

'Wow, maybe you should try it on yourself Diggory, do us all a favour.' Olivia's head snapped round and stared at Fred, who was looking at him with a cruel smile. 'Fred, don't be a dick,' said Angelina soothingly, who was sitting beside him. Diggory however hadn't even turned round, and stared at his toad, no trace of anger on his face.

As soon as Flitwick let the class out, Olivia had ran to catch up with Fred, who had left immediately with George and Angelina, talking and flirting loudly. She caught Fred by the arm, apologised to Angelina and pulled him aside in the corridor, George waiting patiently. 'What the hell was that?'

'What the hell was what?' he said nonchalantly.

'All the stuff with Diggory. I know you aren't one to open your arms to other houses but come on, he wasn't even bragging!'

'He's an idiot. He goes on his looks to get him through life. You two have nothing in common, tell me you weren't annoyed by him?'

'Not really!'

'Do you fancy him?' asked Fred suddenly.

'Oh come on, when have I ever fancied anyone?' It was true. Olivia never had a particular interest in anyone. She pushed the thoughts she had had at breakfast out of her head, and stared up at Fred determinedly. His face softened and he spun her round, his arm around her shoulder.  
'True, Liv. What chance would he have with you!' Fred let out a large guffaw of laughter and checked his timetable. 'Hm. Divination. George?'

'No, I don't think so, twin.' Olivia laughed, and the three strolled down the charms corridor, headed to the kitchens.

* * *

 _ **A/N Hope you enjoyed the second chapter!**_

 _ **I am looking for an editor/proofreader so please let me know if you would be available to help me out. Thank you and see you next chapter…**_


	3. Chapter 3

_**A/N As usual, I don't own Harry Potter. Wish I did though.**_

 _ **Thank you to DorothyNightingale for your brilliant review - I hope you enjoy this chapter!**_

* * *

One thing that anyone who ever managed to get into the Hogwarts kitchens agreed on was this - no matter how exciting the feasts were, the process of making them were just that bit more interesting. Behind an oil painting of a fruit bowl lay a long room decorated with candelabras, their light glinting off of hundreds of brass pots and pans lining the walls. Four long tables, just like those in the Great Hall stretched out across the room, but where students would normally be eating, were house elves. They rushed from table to table, adding finishing touches to meals that were being placed on large, silver platters. Some elves stayed at the sides where tiny stoves held bubbling pots of stews and soups. One stove in a far corner was slightly taller than the rest, and shone just a little brighter. In front of it was an elf whose face was lined with wrinkles. His dark, narrow eyes flashed in every direction, from his stove, to other elves, to the four grand tables, shouting orders all the time. Craggs the house elf took pride in his work, and his work was the kitchens.

This was the sight that greeted Olivia as she stepped into the room through the portrait hole. It never ceased to amaze her, despite the fact that she had lost count of the times she had seen the kitchens. 'Oi, Craggs!' yelled George. The ageing house elf turned towards the three teenagers, and immediately his eyes widened with his small, crooked smile. He rushed over from the stove, barking orders to a nearby elf to look after what he had just left.

'Back already sirs, miss? I must remember to put out more food at breakfast.' His voice was cracked from overuse and age, but he still enunciated every word. 'Don't worry Craggs mate, we're just here to say hello,' answered Fred cheerfully, shaking Craggs's tiny hand.

'Well, I can never turn down a visit from the three of you,' the elf croaked, and he clicked his fingers, conjuring over a few chairs next to a table. 'Sit down, sit down, I'll get you something to eat. And don't you touch anything on the table!' he snapped at George, who had been about to stick his finger into a custard trifle. 'That's for your dinner, and I'll get complaints if I send up something imperfect!' George rolled his eyes but obediently took his hand away. Olivia sat down at the table and watched a tiny house elf carrying a huge golden bowl full of fruit stagger over to the table, throw it down, and knock everything over. 'Here, let me help.' she said, picking up an apple that had rolled in her direction. 'Such a kind miss,' said the elf, her tea towel wrapped around her like a toga. Craggs meanwhile had returned to his stove, and three more elves were walking towards them, each carrying a plate and one carrying a pitcher.

'Three of the usual!' squeaked the leading elf, who held out his plate.

'Mine!' said George quickly, grabbing the bacon roll and the pitcher from the elf. 'Cheers!'

'And the boiled egg and soldiers,' continued the elf, taking the second plate and holding it out to Fred and Olivia.

'Thank you, tell Craggs I say thanks too!' Fred said as he relieved the elf of it's plate.

'And finally, brandy snaps and cream!' Olivia took the plate with a thank you, and immediately put one in her mouth. 'You know, when you have an afternoon snack, it's not just meant to be a dessert,' joked George, as Olivia munched on the treats.

'Shuffup,' she said, spraying the twins with biscuit.

'You are disgusting,' said Fred, before throwing a toast soldier at her. Olivia swallowed the rest of her brandy snap before sticking out her tongue at Fred, who retaliated immediately by throwing another toast soldier. 'Actually, give me that back, I'm starving,' he said, grabbing it off of her head and putting it into his mouth. 'That's repulsive, it tastes like hair product!' Fred shrieked before pretending to gag into George's pitcher of juice.

'Step away from the juice,' said George, bringing out his wand.

'You'd never curse me, Forge.'

'I would if you spat in my drink, Gred.' Fred laughed before pushing the pitcher back to George, and returning to his own food. Olivia checked her watch and sighed. 'Well, it is officially 12 o'clock. Halfway through the day and I've failed to do anything productive,' she said.

'Don't be so hard on yourself, you've got all afternoon to pretend to be productive before admitting defeat,' said George cheerfully.

'Yeah, and it's a sin to be productive on the first day back anyway. We'd have to start pretending we didn't know you,' added Fred.

'More so than we usually do anyway.'

'I don't want to know what you do to people you do say you know,' gigged Olivia.

'You don't get it that bad, Liv,' said Fred, smiling. 'Think of Ron, I still have trouble admitting he's related to me.'

'I have trouble admitting I'm related to _you_ Fred,' quipped George.

'What, you think people know we're brothers?'

'No, you're hideously ugly and I'm devastatingly attractive.'

'Wrong way round, Georgie dear.'

'Lets ask a non biased third party,' said Fred, grabbing George around the shoulder and pressing his face next to his. 'Liv, who's best looking?'

Olivia laughed and looked at their identical faces. Well, they weren't totally identical in her opinion. The freckles that appeared on their faces seemed to show up in the exact same patterns, and as far as their eyes were concerned, their irises were too close to tell the difference. However, George always smiled less than Fred. Fred's smile was over the top, clownish, whereas George never bothered to be overdramatic. He didn't need to be, after all. Fred didn't need to be either, but he loved to play the fool, and it was far harder to tell when Fred was upset, because his smile was constantly too big for his face. George's smile only got bigger when he was faking it.

'Liv, come on, this is taking hours.'

'George.' George immediately celebrated, shoving Fred off of his chair and striking a pose as if cameras were flashing at him. Fred grumbled as he got off the floor. 'Would you look at this knife someone's left in my back? I hope they didn't need it!' he said, pouting.

'Oh shush Freddie, at least I can tell you apart!'

'Only with an examination lasting several minutes and after seeing several forms of identification,' he replied, still faking hurt.

The afternoon wore on into the evening, and before long Olivia found herself in her favourite armchair in the common room, lazily reading over the Charms textbook while Fred and George entertained the rest of Gryffindor tower. Currently, they were using magic to create bursts of different coloured flame, which would intertwine to create beautiful loops in the air. Katie was sitting opposite her watching them, laughing at the first years faces as they gasped and shrieked when either twin would put his hand in the flames, which were of course cool to the touch. 'They are sort of brilliant, aren't they?' she said. Olivia looked up from her book and smiled.

'If you're going to try and get over Davies by going after a Weasley, I'd try Ron.'

'Oh stop! I'd never fancy the twins. I mean, they're cute, but they're impossible.'

'What do you mean?' Katie pondered for a minute, choosing her words carefully.

'Well, it's no secret that they've been with a fair few girls. And they always have another one chasing them! Plus, I think they've even… _shared_ a girl, if you get my drift.' Olivia let out a laugh so loud she made a second year jump.

'No they haven't! Who told you that?' Olivia could barely contain herself, she was laughing so hard.

'Alicia! Goddamn Hogwarts rumour mill, it obviously wasn't true.'

'Trust me. If they had, I would have heard in hideous detail and I'd be scarred for life.' The two girls were both laughing now, getting ugly looks from some seventh year girls who were trying to study. A fourth year girl named Carrie French, one of Katie's friends appeared, sitting down in the next seat along from Olivia and flashing her a smile.

'Katie, have you done the work for McGonagall yet? I can't find my Standard Book of Spells…'

'No not yet, hang on and I'll get it.' Katie stood up and rushed off to their dorm. Olivia and Carrie sat in awkward silence. The two didn't know each other much at all, as their only mutual friend was Katie. Carrie was a very pretty girl, with long, dark hair that she clearly took great care of and clear, brown skin. 'So,' she said slowly. 'How are OWL classes?'

'Um. They're a bit harder I guess?' said Olivia. She immediately felt rather stupid, and tried to clarify it. 'I mean, I know I'm going to need to work a lot once Easter comes, you know?'

'Yeah,' answered Carrie. Olivia spotted Katie coming down the steps of the girls dorms and excused herself, regretfully abandoning her comfy armchair and moving to the desks where she spread her textbook and parchment out in front of her. The annotations she'd made along the sides of the paragraphs didn't make much sense due to her terrible handwriting and habit of writing in incomprehensible short hand. After straining to read it for several minutes, she accepted defeat and began rewriting out her notes onto fresh parchment.

As it got late, Fred and George finally abandoned their games and approached Olivia where she was dozing over her books. 'Hey Liv,' said Fred softly, poking her in her ear.

'Umf.' Olivia rubbed her eyes sleepily and looked up at their two, freckled faces.

'Don't stay up too late, alright? You're hitting the books heavy for the first day back.'

'I won't,' she mumbled, straining her eyes in the dim lighting as she started to reread the chapter she had started hours earlier. George laughed and rubbed her back before heading to the boys dorm, yawning loudly. Fred put his hand out awkwardly and patted her head, to which Olivia looked up at him with complete bemusement.

'Sorry, who are you? Cause you can't be Fred Weasley.'

'I try to be nice…' said Fred, throwing his hands up in the air, laughing. 'Night, don't read too much. It's bad for you.' He headed after his brother, and Olivia tried to bring her eyes to focus on the paper. However, the sleepiness she had felt earlier had left her, and an overwhelming sense of boredom and replaced it. She glanced around the empty common room and sighed. There was nothing to distract her from her work apart from herself. Suddenly, she realised she wasn't in fact alone. There was someone in an armchair facing away from her. The only thing visible to her was their arm, which was tapping off of the side of the arm. 'Well,' she thought, 'I'm not about to talk to someone just because I'm procrastinating.'

Time dragged on, and she realised that talking to the stranger was becoming more and more attractive than going over silencing charms a fourteenth time. Besides, it was nearly midnight. If she didn't say something, they'd go to bed and it would be her, charms and nothing else.

'Er. Hi there.'

The arm in the chair straightened, and a head turned towards Olivia. The person that was sitting there was a boy, with brown hair. He had a thin, gangly frame and had the look of someone that was recovering from being ill. He didn't say anything but gave her an odd look.

'Sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you, I just-'

'No, it's fine.' He didn't look in any way annoyed or upset to have had his silence disturbed but just mildly surprised to see another human being.

'I'm working, except I'm really bored and I hate Charms, I can't do it. So, I just thought…'

'That you'd distract yourself,' the boy finished for her. He was smiling now, and it put Olivia at ease.

'I'm Olivia Flume. I don't think we've met?'

'Marlo White.' His voice was soft, almost difficult to hear.

'Cool. Why are you up so late then? Seeing as I've confessed to you all about my procrastination,' said Olivia jokingly, spreading her arms out towards her books.

'I don't really sleep much. It's just a thing I have. It used to bother me a lot when I was younger, but I've kind of gotten over it.' It made sense to Olivia, after all anyone would be that pale if they never slept…

'It's good to meet you Marlo,' she said. He nodded and turned back around, while Olivia cringed at her own overeagerness. Making small talk was never her forte. For the final time that night, she stared down at her books, and began to work on the next chapter. Her mind kept drifting to the day she had just had, and to Katie and Davies, and to Fred and George, and to Fred… It would be okay if she put her head down for one minute, like a power nap… Her Charms book looked particularly soft…

* * *

 _ **A/N This dragged on a lot but I really want to take my time with introducing new characters and just developing Olivia's character. Please review if you enjoyed (or if you didn't and I'll try and improve for next time!)**_


	4. Chapter 4

**_A/N Thank you to Son of Whitebeard for reviewing my OCs, I'm glad that you think they're interesting! Thanks also to Orangebunny14, marielinot07 and for following, I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as you did the previous ones. Special mention to Dorothy Nightingale for being so detailed with her reviews. You've been so helpful and it's so good to know what I'm doing right. Lots of love from me. She's also writing a wonderful story called Kim Infected right now - check that out!_**

 ** _JKR owns Hogwarts, though I'd like to say otherwise._**

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Olivia was floating along above the Quidditch pitches, soaring in-between the hoops, her hair fanned out behind her. She could feel strong arms on her shoulders, as if some otherworldly God was holding her upright. It was more turbulent now though, the hands moving her urgently as if she had some place to be-

'Liv? Have you slept here all night? It's ten to nine, you're going to be late!'

With a jolt, Olivia sat up, her back and neck sore from sleeping over the desk. Fred was shaking her awake, his arms on her shoulders. 'You're in yesterdays clothes, mate. Do you want me to tell Snape you're sick?'

'Shit…' she mumbled, getting to her feet. Her blonde hair was ratty and she could feel her clumped mascara sticking her eyes together. 'No. Look, I'll just come now, and I'll have a shower during lunch, will you wait one minute while I grab my books?' Fred rolled his eyes but obediently sat down in the common room.

'Don't take too long, I'd prefer it if Snape didn't have a reason to poison me.'

Olivia ran up the stairs and glanced in the mirror. She had been right about the mascara, which was partially smudged down her cheek. Her hair was not going to cooperate, clearly. Nothing could be done except spraying on some deodorant and rushing back down the stairs, potions books in hand. Together, her and Fred climbed out the portrait hole where George was waiting, and the three of them sprinted to the dungeons. Panting, but on time, they crashed through the door of the potions classroom and Olivia tried to ignore the snickers of a few Ravenclaw girls, each who looked as if they had walked out of a fashion magazine that morning. The twins headed straight to a free double seat at the back of the room and Olivia slid into the seat in front, next to a boy she didn't know.

Wait. She did know him. Rodger Davies sat next on her right, scratching at a mark on the desk with his quill absentmindedly. Through sheer luck, they had ended up right next to him, and had absolutely no plan. Swinging around in her seat, she made eye contact with the twins and mouthed 'It's Davies!' Both of them looked at one another and grinned. Before they could say anything else, Snape walked into the room and the chatter immediately died. He looked like he was in a foul mood for some reason, which was never a good sign. 'Swelling solutions. You may find the ingredients on page 37. I advise that if you wish to continue in my subject, you begin to apply yourself as I accept no less than O level students in my NEWT classes. How you do in this will give me a basis on what I can expect from you this year.' He swivelled around and pointed his wand at the blackboard, where the instructions on how to brew the potion appeared. 'Begin.'

The dungeons were always uncomfortably warm, but this was possibly the worse it had ever felt. Swelling solutions had to be brewed at a consistently high temperature and it meant that the whole room was swelteringly hot. Olivia was stirring her potion with extreme care, carefully counting the turns that she had done. As she moved onto the next instruction, she felt a poke from behind her. George was holding his hand out next to his cauldron, his eyes on Snape. In his hand was a small package wrapped with purple foil. It looked vaguely like a cough sweet. 'Take it, Liv. It's not for you,' he added, with a meaningful look. She didn't question him and slipped the sweet into her robes, and chancing a glance at Davies, she pretended to take a sweet from her pocket and eat it. As she carried on with her potion, she continued to take nothing from her pocket, place her hand to her mouth and swallow, making sure that Davies noticed and Snape did not. Trying to be as inconspicuous as possible, she turned to Davies and, despite wanting to give him the filthiest look she could, gave him a wide smile and asked 'do you want a sweet?' He turned towards her with a slightly confused look on his face, before shrugging. 'Yeah, sure. Whatever.' Trying to keep a straight face, Olivia reached into her pocket and passed him the sweet, which he immediately unwrapped and put in his mouth. All was normal for around thirty seconds. Then, without warning, he started gagging, and what looked like a fat purple worm erupted from his mouth. The whole class started to panic, with cauldrons being knocked over and girls screaming, all whilst Davies choked and his tongue grew longer and longer. He lunged for Olivia and George seized her under the armpits, lifting her backwards over the desk and in-between himself and Fred. Snape meanwhile had rushed over to Davies and was shouting at him all while Fred shouted about how he must have tasted his swelling solution. 'All of you leave, I need to take this boy to the hospital wing. I expect a roll of parchment on the antidote and proper brewing of a swelling solution,' hissed Snape, and the students who hadn't already taken the opportunity to sneak out the room amidst the drama did so.

Still laughing hysterically, Fred, George and Olivia collapsed at the side of the corridor, shaking with mirth as they remembered the panic that had ensued. 'What _was_ that?' asked Olivia, and the twins looked at each other, slightly more seriously. 'You really want to know?' said Fred.

'Obviously. Also, remind me never to eat anything you offer me.'

'I'm hurt,' said George, his hand over his heart. 'Okay. So it's clear me and Fred were never destined for a nice, quiet Ministry job.' Olivia snorted. 'Exactly. And we've been pondering about our future careers rather a lot. And one night, I had the brilliant idea-'

'Shut up George, it was me who thought of it-'

'Well whoever. We decided we're going to open a joke shop,' finished George triumphantly.

'And that-'

'Is our first real invention. A ton-tongue toffee. Patent pending.' Olivia looked from one to the other, hardly able to believe what she was hearing. Did they both really plan to open a joke shop?

'It's going to be called 'Weasley's Wacky Wonders,' said Fred proudly.

'We're still deciding on the name, actually,' interjected George.

'Well I think it's brilliant,' said Olivia, and she meant it. 'You could get a branch in Hogsmeade, and then we could work in the shops next to each other!'

'Yeah, and we'll share an apartment above them together, and get rich.' The three sat in content silence for a few moments, a shared dream for the future. Silence however rarely lasted around the Weasley twins, and almost as soon as it had started, Fred said 'Merlin, no noise makes me uncomfortable. Let's go, Liv needs a shower before she knocks someone out.'

'Hey!'

For the first time in her life, Olivia had managed to work two nights in a row. Fred and George had gaped at her when she sat down in the common room to work on Snape's essay promptly at seven that evening. 'You know, if we wanted to be best friends with Hermione Granger, we could be,' said George as he looked disbelievingly at his friend as she began to skim through books. 'Yes, and you'd hate it. I just want to do well this year. I mean, it's OWL year. Don't you?' she asked.

'Yes. But it's the second day of term! You're practically drowning in books as we speak!'

'Plus you slept down here last night. We're concerned for your health,' said Fred, though he could barely keep a straight face as he said it.

'How am I going to inevitably do all your boring taxes and sort out your business affairs when you inevitably forget if I am not educated?' said Olivia, turning over a page.

'Fine. But if I have to rescue you from being late again I'll have to start strapping an alarm clock to your face,' joked Fred. Lee Jordan shouted something, and George turned round.

'In a sec, Lee! You coming Fred? he asked his twin, but Fred waved his hand impatiently and George walked off to see his friend. 'Are you not going to see Lee?' said Olivia quizzically, stopping her reading to look up at Fred, who was scanning her face in the most serious way that he could. 'Look, I know I don't look my best but it's rude to stare.'

'I'm not staring!' he said indignantly, folding his arms. 'You just look different.'

'Different how?'

'Different… I don't know. Older?'

'Gee, thanks. That's always what a girl wants to hear.'

'Never mind,' said Fred quickly, and he stood up to go and join the others.

As time dragged on, and the common room emptied, Olivia found it more and more easy to concentrate. She was partially surprised that she was finding it so easy, as up until now it had been her life's mission to avoid doing any work whatsoever. The old grandfather clock was ticking quietly in the background, and she scribbled down the next paragraph of her essay.

'Hey.' Olivia looked up, and was met with the face of Marlo White. 'Can I sit?' he asked.

'Sure, sit down anywhere,' she said distractedly, her mind still on step six of the method.

'So, er, how's your day been?' asked the boy tentatively. Olivia looked up. Clearly, he was now trying to behave more warmly than he had been yesterday. With a sigh, she put down her quill. 'It's been pretty good, actually. Potions was something of a fun time and Snape simply had to ruin it all by giving us an essay.'

'Snape's never been one to really go easy on students though is he?' said Marlo.

'No, I guess not,' Olivia admitted. It was really quite nice, she thought, sitting here with Marlo. It wasn't as if he was a creep, or so fantastically good looking or popular that she felt uncomfortable. It was rather like sitting with someone in a waiting room, where you're both content to keep to yourselves and smile politely. In a way, perhaps it was a blessing that Marlo didn't appear to be much of an extrovert.

Friendships are not always easy things. It can be awkward and tense to begin with, when two people try and test the waters around one another to establish a tentative relationship. Other feelings can always interfere, or life creates barriers that cause it to break down. However, it is often simple gestures that cause friendships to truly begin. When Olivia woke at around six when a confused looking first year had bumped into the table after trying to get a glass of water, she realised she had once again fallen asleep on the table. Marlo was gone. What he had left behind, was a full set of notes and an essay plan for swelling solutions. At the bottom, he had written 'Hope it helps.' Olivia smiled.

* * *

 **A/N So, Marlo and Olivia are slowly becoming friends. He's just very shy it seems!**

 **Katie didn't seem to make it into this chapter, but no fear she'll be in the next one. See you next time guys!**


	5. Chapter 5

_**A/N Hi everyone,**_

 _ **First, thank you to Professor McGonagal, CrystalShardz64,**_ _**and xGred-Forgex for following my story, have fun reading this chapter. Thank you very much to for their fantastic reviews, so credit goes to them if this chapter is better than the others haha! Also, on a sidenote, has anyone had trouble with their traffic count? Mine seems to be showing an error…**_

 _ **JKR owns everything but Olivia Flume.**_

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The bathtub in the girls bathroom was large, big enough that Olivia could lie herself flat along it underneath the water. It took almost a half an hour to fill it up, but as far as she was concerned, it was completely worth it. Sinking into the blistering heat of the water, she poured various oils and gels into the water that sat in the cabinet until the water had turned a pleasant lavender colour with a matching scent.

As she sat in the bath, she took the opportunity to look at her reflection in the mirror on the wall. Her pale skin was flushed red with the heat, and her blonde curls stuck to her forehead. Nothing about her face stood out. Olivia's nose was rather large, and upturned, with hundreds of freckles dotting both it and her cheeks, that she painstakingly covered with foundation most mornings. The freckles also covered her arms, but she had conceded defeat against those and tried her best to ignore them. She had a small mouth and lots of teeth. The one thing that her grey eyes found in the mirror that she liked about her appearance was her hair. Untameable and wild, her blonde curls stuck up in every direction and grew far down her back. The only time that they agreed to Olivia's terms was when they were wet. At the moment, her hair lay slick and shiny around her, and on the rare occasion that Olivia took a bath and not a shower, she liked to look at herself with straight hair for once.

It was a Saturday morning, and Olivia found it easiest to get up early in order to have the bathroom to herself. After around nine am, it would be crowded with the four girls who lived in the dorm fighting over the mirror and the sink. As the clock ticked towards seven however, the other three residents slept on.

Slowly, she stood up, and reached for a towel to dry herself with. Without warning, she felt a sudden rush of nausea and she staggered towards the toilet, waves of sickness taking her over. After she had finished retching, she immediately tried to brush her teeth to get rid of the taste of bile. She couldn't think of anything that she could have eaten that might have set off her stomach, nor could she think of anyone she knew who was sick. It must have simply been a bug.

The nausea was leaving her now, and she began to dry herself properly and put on clothes, preparing for the day. Fred, George and Katie had Quidditch practise so she would likely sit at the side of the pitch and watch the three of them. Her mind wandered back to the weird feeling in her stomach she had felt when Fred had winked at her at the beginning of last week. She hadn't felt anything like it again when they were hanging out normally, had she? Maybe it was the bug that made her feel like that then. Stubbornly, she put it out of her head, and refused to think on it anymore.

The breakfast table was surprisingly busy for so early in the morning. Olivia had been planning to grab some fruit and go for a walk, but as she leant over some third years, she overheard their conversation. 'He was seen really near, in Hogsmeade!' said a boy she thought might have been called Dean.

'Excuse me? Who was seen?' she inquired and Dean turned to his friend with a grim expression on his face.

'Sirius Black. Apparently he was spotted by some aurors who were patrolling alongside the dementors.'

'Yeah,' nodded the blonde boy sitting next to him. 'Here, it's in the Prophet,' he said, passing Olivia the newspaper. She scanned the article quickly, an image of Black alongside it. His eyes were sunken, and he looked like he was beating at the walls of the photo, trying to get out.

' _According to a witness, known killer Sirius Black was seen climbing over a fence in the back garden of a residence in Hogsmeade Village. Mr Bletchley, whose garden Black was thought to be seen in, could not be reached for comment.'_

Immediately, Olivia rushed to the Owlery, pulling a quill out of her robe pocket as she tore up the stairs, desperate to write to her parents. Of course, if there had been anything truly horrific that had happened, the Prophet would have reported it, but still her parents well being weighed heavily on her mind. Panting hard, she reached the top of the steps, scrawling a quick note and calling down an owl from the rafters.

 _'_ _Dear Mum and Dad_

 _Saw the papers. Did you see Black? Are you okay?_

 _Write back soon_

 _Love Olivia.'_

It was no work of art, but as long as she heard something from them she would feel better. The owlery door swung open, and Fred Weasley stood outside it, a piece of parchment in his hand.

'Did you see the paper?' she asked quickly, and he nodded.

'I guessed you would come here to send a letter to the shop. The map proved me right,' Fred said, gesturing to the piece of parchment. 'Are you alright?'

'I'm fine. I just worry about them, I mean neither of them are particularly skilled duellers and they're on their own in the shop all day…'

'I'd want to know if it was my family too,' he said, sitting down on a bench and Olivia joined him as the bird soared away with her letter. 'Plus, your family has been contributing to my food supply since I was considerably shorter.' Olivia smiled and reached into her pockets and pulled out two bars of chocolate, handing one to Fred.

'Here. I completely forgot about them but I haven't had any breakfast and I'm kind of starving.' Fred was barely listening as he tore open the silver paper and crammed the chocolate into his mouth, taking a huge bite and chewing with a grin on his face. 'Thath the srtuff,' he said through the chocolate, and Olivia laughed, taking a bite out of her own bar. 'Damn, I haven't got one for George now,' she said and Fred laughed.

'I think you're allowed to eat your own chocolate, George will simply have to cope.' Fred's long legs stretched over the floor as he slumped in his seat, chewing happily. In comparison, Olivia's short legs barely touched the floor. The two sat quietly, eating their chocolate, and Olivia broke the silence by voicing her worry out loud. 'Do you think Sirius Black will bring You-Know-Who to Hogwarts?' Fred screwed up his face a little in confusion.

'Why do you ask?'

'Because it's been annoying me. I mean, does Hogwarts have protection against intruders?'

'There's the dementors, the teachers… Personally, I'd put a bet on the whomping willow over just about anything, even You-Know-Who. Imagine if he tried to sneak in and the willow just thwacked him round the head! Maybe all we need to do is concuss him and then sneak him away to Azkaban. Look, you can see it from here,' said Fred, standing up and pulling his friend to her feet. They walked to the window and gazed out, where the whomping willow was indeed swaying gently in the morning breeze. A tall, burly boy was walking across the grounds with a broomstick on his back, and Fred swore.

'Quidditch practise! I forgot, Wood's making us start practising at ridiculous times in the morning in order to win because it's his last year. Come with me?' Fred asked her.

'Sure, but if Wood tries to get me to fly at people again for 'practising defence' I am leaving immediately.'

'I can't guarantee he won't, he's always been a bit of a nut but this year will definitely be his worst.'

Olivier Wood worked his team hard. All of the fliers were as strong as each other for certain, there was no weak link. The three chasers, Angelina, Alicia and Katie flew seamlessly, weaving in between one another as they passed back and forth, racking up goals within minutes. When Oliver was goalkeeping however, it was rare that they got the Quaffle past him, as he could interpret which lunge towards a goalpost was a feint, and which was real.

Harry Potter was built even smaller than Olivia was, and looked as though a good gust of wind might blow him over. The fact he was so light however meant that he flew fastest out of all seven players, zooming from one end of the pitch to the other. Olivia privately thought they might have got a seeker who didn't wear glasses if vision was so important, but didn't share her thoughts as she was no Quidditch goddess herself.

Fred and George were always a force to be reckoned with, so it was no surprise that that was actually what appeared on the pitch too. They beat bludgers at each other furiously, passing between themselves until they decided to knock one at a team-mate for good measure.

Olivia enjoyed watching their practising, and it was clear that they were working hard. However, despite Wood almost completely losing his temper at the twins, they continued to fly over Olivia's head, swooping over her and annoying her as she worked on her homework. As their practise finished, Katie flew over and sat down next to Olivia while the rest of the team went to the changing rooms. Her green eyes were filled with worry and before she opened her mouth, Olivia had spoken.

'My parents are fine, don't worry.' Katie sighed with relief.

'Oh thank Merlin, all I heard was that Black was in Hogsmeade and obviously I thought of you first. Have you heard from them?'

'No, not yet. But the Prophet would have said something if there was anything worth worrying about.'

'That's true,' nodded Katie, pulling her hair out of the hair tie she was keeping it up in. 'Will you go see them?'

'No, not yet. I mean, the next Hogsmeade visit will be soon and it'll be so easy to go see them then, so I don't really see the point in going to McGonagall and making a huge fuss, you know?' Olivia said.

'True. Also,' said Katie, her eyes narrowing, 'what's this I hear about Rodger Davies ending up in the hospital wing with a giant tongue?' She looked like she was trying her best to be disapproving, but was clearly repressing a smile.

'I wouldn't know anything about that Katie. It's not in my nature to interfere with people's love lives,' Olivia said, pretending to examine her nails.

'Yeah, and we wouldn't know anything about it either, Bell.' The two voices from behind them indicated the arrival of the twins back onto the pitch, who had just finished changing. She gave the two boys a stern look but her giggling punctured it, and although she tried, she couldn't keep a straight face. 'You three will be the death of me,' she said, shaking her head. Katie waved goodbye to Olivia and leaped neatly over the barrier, walking off to the changing room past the twins, who she high fived. 'Come on then Liv, hurry up, I want my lunch,' groaned George.

'I'm coming, I'm coming!' She clambered down the seats and jumped the last step, straight into a mud puddle, completely soaking both Fred and George.

'You did that on purpose!' they cried in outrage.

'No, I didn't, but I wish I had!' she said, turning her head to the side as if admiring her work. The boys looked at each other, before smiling two identical, evil grins.

'No!'

Both twins jumped at the same time, splashing her with a huge amount of mud before Fred had lifted up the soaked Olivia by her middle, carrying her in a fireman's lift as she kicked out and swore at them both. 'Let me down! Let me go, you morons!'

'Sorry, no can do Liv,' George said cheerfully, strolling along beside his brother.

'George,' Fred said in mock astonishment, 'I think we might have got a splash of dirt on her robes.' George turned to Fred and pressed his hand into Fred's hair, his fist clenching a large clump of earth which crumbled all over his twin like an egg breaking. Fred sprinted after George who was laughing hysterically while Olivia bumped off his back still cursing them both.

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 _ **A/N Aw. Friendship. So this wasn't a particularly dramatic chapter, but that won't be the case for the next chapter… hehe.**_

 _ **Hope you all enjoyed, and I will see you next time!**_


	6. Chapter 6

**_A/N Urgh, could_** ** _please get their shit together and make the website work again. Couldn't log in, couldn't see my views… It's been a rough week online and offline, hence the late chapter._**

 ** _Thank you very much to DancingWithAngelsAndDemons for following, welcome to the story! And of course thank you to DorothyNightingale for her reviewing and continued support *high five*_**

 ** _JKR owns Harry Potter._**

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The trip to Hogsmeade on Hallowe'en was a welcome break for the fifth years, who had been working tirelessly since the beginning of the year. Even the twins had finally began to pay attention in their lessons, the OWL exams inching ever closer. Olivia however was working harder than most, desperate to make up for her less than average grades she had received each year. This year, she had vowed would be her best yet. She didn't have to do it all by herself though. At least twice a week, Marlo and her would sit together in the common room, working away in silence, only occasionally exchanging nervous conversation. It had become a competition between the two of them as to who could stay awake the longest, which Olivia would always fail. Katie had begun to get used to running down from the girls dormitory in the morning to the common room to wake up the sleeping Olivia and help her tidy up her books.

The vomiting bug she had struggled with had seemed to have disappeared, but it had left behind a rather queasy feeling in her stomach, and absolute exhaustion. Some days she could barely get her head off of the desk in lessons. Madame Pomfrey had insisted she was overworked, pressing her with Pepper-up potions every time she went into her office. The twins had almost ran out of jokes to tell about the smoke coming from her ears due to the frequency that she took the potion.

Hallowe'en however, was a holiday, and the Weasley twins respected holidays as much as they respected Peeves. On the morning of the 31st of October, the two of them had grabbed Olivia as soon as she left the girls dorm and the three of them raced to the station to take the short train ride into Hogsmeade. As they wandered about in the village, they stopped in front of the Hogs Head Tavern.

'Well, here we are my friends. Quite possibly the pinnacle of our time here. The first time that we will try Firewhiskey,' announced Fred, beaming up at the mouldy sign.

'Are we sure he'll sell us it? I mean, none of us look seventeen,' said Olivia nervously.

'Speak for yourself, tiny one,' said George, sweeping back his hair and pulling himself to his full height. 'I reckon we just go in, ask for three glasses of the stuff, down it and bolt before he's realised his mistake.'

'The only people who go in are crazy anyway, he won't give us a second glance,' reassured Fred, steering Olivia towards the door. He shoved her through, and immediately Olivia regretted ever going. The whole bar was empty, save for one fearsome looking old man behind the bar. His blue eyes flashed menacingly at the three of them, and as they sat down at a table, his gaze did not lift from them once. 'Nope, nope, nope, lets go right now,' hissed Olivia, but Fred shook his head and stood up, trying to be as nonchalant as possible as he strolled over to the bar. Both George and Olivia were staring at the table determinedly, barely wanting to breathe.

'So!' said Fred cheerfully, squinting at the grimy board behind the old man. 'I'll have three fire whiskeys please, and one butterbeer.' The old man didn't move. 'Er, how much is that then?'

'Two sickles for the butter beer and a galleon for the three fire whiskeys,' he rasped. Fred quickly emptied his pockets and handed over the gold, grabbing the four bottles he was handed and heading for the door. 'Come on guys,' he said in a low voice, and George and Olivia sprang up from the table and bolted out the door.

Honeydukes was always packed full of students, regardless of the time of year. In celebration for Hallowe'en, Ambrosius and Finella Flume had decorated with hundreds of orange paper chains, stark white skeletons hanging from the walls that moved eerily and bats that flitted around the ceiling. It took mere seconds for Olivia to push through the students crowding the shop and fling her arms around her father, the two laughing and smiling. 'I was wondering when you were going to turn up kiddo.'

'It's been too long papa bear,' she said, pulling out of the hug and turning to wrap her arms around her mother. 'Fred and George are here too,' she mentioned, and the twins waved from a far corner of the shop.

'Good to see they've not got you expelled yet,' joked Finella. Her greying hair was wrapped in a bun, freckles covering her entire face.

'We're going to head up to my room okay? Then we have to go back to the castle for the feast, because you know how good it is. Has everything been alright here?' she asked more seriously, looking from her mother to her father.

'Same old stuff darling. You don't need to worry about us,' said Ambrosius, his eyes kind.

'Promise me you'd tell me if there was?' Olivia insisted.

'Yes, yes,' her father sighed, shaking his head. 'Aren't the parents the ones who are meant to be doing the worrying?'

'I know, just… I want you to be safe.'

'And we are,' her mother said gently, patting her head. 'Now go off and enjoy your holiday!' Olivia turned reluctantly and called over the twins, and the three trudged up the stairs to her room.

As they sat cross legged on the floor, Fred emptied his pockets of their contents, rolling the four bottles onto the floor and chucking a few of the pastilles they had been inventing out too. They looked at one another, unsure how to begin. 'So, who's going to take the first sip?' asked George tentatively.

'Me,' answered Fred immediately, and he swept up a bottle in his hand and unscrewed the top. He brought it to his lips and took a large glug of the amber coloured liquid. He spluttered and coughed, laughing and held the bottle out to his friends. 'That tastes like pain.'

'Do you feel any different?' Olivia asked anxiously.

'Not unless you mean having a burning throat,' said Fred, rubbing his chest. 'Right c'mon George, your turn.' George hesitatingly picked up the bottle, and then without a second thought shoved it into his mouth and drank from the bottle, before almost throwing the bottle out of his hands and coughing with extreme force. 'That… is… awful.'

'Just you left then Liv,' said Fred with a large grin. He held out the bottle to her, and she winced at the thought of the taste.

'Oh fine, I'll do it.' She took a quick swig from the bottle, and gasped. The liquid tasted awful, almost how she would expect cleaning fluid to taste but with a strong smell of cinnamon that burned in her nose. Her chest felt like there was truly flame flickering inside of her, and for a single second, she was truly worried her torso might burst into flames. Then, it was gone, with only a strong aftertaste left in her mouth. Fred had picked up another bottle and opened it, passing the last bottle to George. 'Lets play ten fingers, chaps,' he said in a business like manner. He placed his bottle down on the ground in front of him and held up his two hands. 'Never have I ever kissed a bloke,' he said, and Olivia rolled her eyes, putting down a finger and taking a drink, grimacing at the taste. 'Who was your first kiss?' asked George curiously.

'Lee Jordan you moron, you were there! We were playing spin the bottle in like third year.'

'Fair enough actually, I remember that,' he admitted. 'Your turn Liv.'

'Never have I ever kissed a girl,' she retaliated, and the the twins both took a drink, Fred calling George a liar as he did so.

'Never have I ever… Hit the Quaffle instead of a Bludger,' said George quickly, and Fred immediately protested. 'That's not fair, it was rainy and I was ill, it was a miracle I could see anything!' he said, while begrudgingly taking a drink.

Several questions later, and the bottles were nearing empty, and the effects of the fire whiskey were clearly showing. 'Never have I ever,' pondered George, 'kept a secret between the three of us.' Both Olivia and Fred looked awkwardly around the room before sipping from the bottles they were holding. 'Excuuuuse me?' George said, mildly shocked. 'My two best friends…' he uttered, before promptly falling down onto his back, laughing madly.

'Come on then, what's your secret?' said Fred, his eyes a little unfocused.

'It's really boring,' giggled Olivia, her brain fuzzy as she tried to concentrate on Fred's face.

'Oh go on, tell us…'

'Okay,' she hiccoughed, and spread her arms out in front of her as if she was speaking to a large crowd, 'Ladies and gentlemen, I have made a new friend who I only see at midnight!' she announced, and George pulled himself back up to give her a confused look.

'And when you say friend, you totally mean a broom closet buddy?'

'No! He's not, no!' Olivia persisted while the twins fell about laughing. 'His name is Marlo, and he's really quiet, and-'

'Give it a rest, Liv, there's no one called Marlo in Gryffindor!' said Fred, still laughing.

'Just because you don't know him doesn't mean he doesn't exist,' Olivia said grumpily, and attempted to stand up but fell slightly, staggering into Fred. 'Shit, it's almost seven o'clock! We've practically missed the feast,' she said sadly, and George pulled Fred up from the floor so all three were standing (albeit shakily.)

'S'probably just as well, we couldn't have gone like this,' said George, looking down at his shaky hands. 'Lets just head back, it'll be fine,' he said slowly, attempting to open the door to exit Olivia's room. 'Hey,' said Fred, who looked like he was trying his absolute best to focus. 'If there's no dementors here Liv, that means the secret passage is open! Lets just use that, and me and George will go to the kitchens and everything will be fine,' he finished dramatically.

'That's actually not a bad idea,' admitted Olivia.

As they stumbled back to Hogwarts through the passage, carefully avoiding Olivia's parents as they did so, George went over the plan. 'Fred and I will head to the kitchens, we won't be seen as everyone will still be at the feast, which means that we have time to sneak some food into the common room and sober up before everyone else arrives. Questions?'

'Do we have to sober up?' asked Fred, and Olivia exploded into fresh giggles.

'You better, ugly or we'll all be in the shit,' said George, trying his best to muster all his concentration into opening the passage. They staggered into the corridor and Fred shoved Olivia in the direction of the common room, the twins heading off towards the kitchens. She was trying her best to walk in a straight line to avoid suspicion should she happen to run into any teachers, but was very aware of the fact that if she opened her mouth they would smell the strong alcohol on her breath. Almost in sight of the portrait hole, she sped up and focused on the fat lady. She could almost see it-

Someone grabbed her from behind, and put a hand over her mouth. The booze had slowed her reactions, and her kicking and muffled shouts were slowed and quieter.

'Shh, shh, please Olivia! It's me!' She turned around to face her attacker and came almost nose to nose with Marlo.

'What are you-'

'You need to be quiet, right now,' he hissed, ducking behind a tapestry and pulling her behind himself. Out of the shadows of the darkened corridor, a thin, tall stranger appeared and stood in front of the portrait hole, and Olivia could almost hear their voice.

'It's me, you have to let me in.'

'No entrance without a password.'

'Come on, you remember me don't you? Don't you?' The stranger was pacing in front of it, getting more and more agitated. 'For old times sake. Let me in. Goddammit, let me in!' the man screeched, and pulled his wand out at the painting. The fat lady shrieked and fled her painting, as large slashes appeared in the canvas, and Peeves, who had just turned the corridor, froze. The stranger turned around, and immediately she recognised the sunken face, the terrifying dark eyes.

Sirius Black sprinted from the corridor, Peeves yelling about an intruder, and she heard the deafening noise of hundreds of students who were trampling up the stairs, full from the feast. As more and more Gryffindors arrived at the scene, the terror amplified, younger students completely losing their heads and running off. Olivia could barely work out what was happening, different faces fighting to get away, panic rising as the students realised what had happened. 'Find the twins,' she thought desperately to herself, and in her panic induced state, she failed to notice that Marlo had slipped away, unnoticed by anyone.

It felt like hours later when Dumbledore had finally gathered all the students in the Great Hall, and Olivia was still shaking, waves of terror washing over her as she replayed it over and over in her head. If it wasn't for Marlo, she could have been dead, murdered by the man who killed all those Muggles… Even his best friend. Scanning the hall, she saw the two redheads and they rushed towards each other, George quickly wrapping his arms around Olivia. 'Fuck, Liv, are you alright? Did you see it? What happened?' he said very fast, letting go of her. Fred looked deathly pale, and he pressed Olivia into his chest, before turning away without another word, grabbing a sleeping bag and heading to a quieter area. George and Olivia followed, Olivia mumbling all she could remember, carefully leaving out the fact that Marlo was there. She didn't need to drag anyone else into it. George didn't press the issue, putting down his sleeping bag next to his brother and the three of them lying down quietly next to each other. Whispering slowly quietened as the hours passed, and Olivia had never felt less tired in her life. Nothing could shake the image of Black, almost translucent in the dark pulling out his wand and aiming at the painting from her mind.

'Liv?' Fred's hushed voice came from beside her. She turned to face him, and he pulled his arm out of his sleeping bag, gently taking her hand in his. 'I'm sorry we left.' Olivia looked at his worried eyes and his long nose and smiled, squeezing his hand slightly.

'It's okay.' He smiled a little too.

If a student had passed over the hall during the night they would perhaps not have noticed anything at all. George however, stirring in his sleep and looking over at his two best friends, definitely saw something unusual. Fred's hand still clasped tightly to Olivia's, though the two were fast asleep, counted as unusual. He smiled, and turned over. Fred might have been trying to keep a secret from the two of them, but when it came to George, he could never manage to keep anything that private.

* * *

 ** _A/N Shady Marlo and shippy Olivia and Fred. So much going on in this chapter._**

 ** _Reviews are wonderful things!_**


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